Imagine you’re 100 years old and looking back on your life.
What would you remember? Seriously. Think about it. If you’re anything like us, you probably thought of...
- Date nights with your partner
- Bedtime cuddles with your kids
- Late night giggles with your siblings
- Dinners with your parents
- Truth or dare with your first friend
- Inside jokes with your coworker
You’re in good company because relationships are the universal fabric that make us human.
How OURS will change the world
We’re on a mission to help people have happier, healthier lives through stronger relationships. We believe in a world of great relationships, made better.
Did you know that relationships are often the #1 predictor of our physical, emotional and mental health?
Just think: how could the world be different if we all had stronger relationships with the people we love?
We’d feel heard, seen, understood, loved. Individually and collectively, we’d unlock the power of love to reach our greatest potential. We’d have a richer human experience. We’d be kinder to each other. We’d live longer and better. We’d die with no regrets.
How beautiful would that be?
To us, that’s not a daydream. It’s our job. We’re building experiences in relationship health to make that future world, reality. And since you’re here, we know that you believe in that world, too.
OURS started with a secret…
We were in great relationships, but things weren’t perfect… or we were worried about the future… or we just wanted to strengthen our relationship even more. When we told our friends we were looking into couples counseling, they gasped… and then revealed that they were too. We were shocked at how many were looking for or were already in couples counseling.
But when we looked into couples counseling, we found that it was really hard to get started. It was stressful to figure out where to start. We had to leave voicemails. We had to optimize for availability during the workday across 3 schedules. It was draining, confusing, stressful and nearly impossible.
We started to wonder, what could going to couples counseling look and feel like if we brought together the world’s best therapists, designers, product builders and content creators to re-imagine couples counseling from the ground up? Could we make going to couples counseling feel the way we all want our relationships to feel: happy, rich, memorable, special, magical?
Our Founding Story
In early 2020, the world was about to change and we (Jessica and Adam) had no idea who the other was. But, we were both tackling the same problem: how do we normalize relationship health and make couples counseling more accessible?
In April 2020, a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend introduced us:
We got on the phone - Adam calling from Houston, Jessica from Brooklyn - for what was scheduled to be a 30 minute phone call. It stretched on for over 2 hours and by the end, we were finishing each other’s sentences. We were shocked, then heartened, then inspired, by the shared vision in a future where going to couples counseling was as possible, celebrated and normal as going to Sunday brunch or an evening spin class.
At first, we took the phone call just to meet someone else in the space. We quickly realized we needed to work together - should our companies partner together? But within days, we realized we could build something so much bigger than our individual dreams, if we built together. Funny how relationships work like that, huh?
So, we got to work. In August of 2020, we asked one of our advisors to connect us with the best couples therapist in the world and he immediately thought of & connected us with Liz, an industry-leading, world-famous couples therapist:
Our first call with Liz was over Zoom, as all calls were back then, and her electricity went out! Somehow, she stayed on through a power outage and as the afternoon turned into the evening, we got to know her and were in awe of her expertise and experience. We reflected after the call, “We need to work with someone like Liz.” “Wait… do you think it’s at all possible that Liz would join us?”
In April 2021, she did, and we’ve never looked back. Except to reminisce on our early days of getting to know each other, which - by the way - is a sign of a strong relationship.
What is OURS?
You can read more about the approach here or meet OURS herself here.
To make relationship health more accessible, we built an entirely new approach to relationship health. On Loveware (you know, software for your love…), your experience with OURS combines the insight and human touch of a Guide with the delight and insights of technology, representing a truly magical, life-changing experience.
The pillars of the OURS experience are:
- STRUCTURE. Clear roadmaps of where you’re headed and time-boxed programs that are tangible & realistic
- EXPERTISE. Defined and non-scary Guide touchpoints for deep, meaningful insights and guidance
- EDUCATION. Bite-size psychoeducation and frameworks to build and integrate relationship skills for life
- TIME TOGETHER. Tech-guided conversations to put skills into practice and create life-changing habits and memories
- COMMUNITY. Support, role models, champions, stories and feeling of togetherness throughout
More about our team
We’re a small team of designers, builders, therapists, academics, and relationship obsessives who are just getting started. Want to join our team? Reach out to us at people@withours.com or check out our job postings here.
Let’s get personal. We’re all about the feelings…
- Our best relationship traits: Empathy, loyalty, communicating, transparency, laughing, cooking, offering support, communicating, humility and consideration
- The relationship traits we’re not so proud of: getting irritable, needing space, disliking cooking, asking for back scratches too often, getting grumpy when hungry, not communicating enough
- The hardest relationship lessons we’ve learned: Potential isn’t enough, don’t marry a man if you’re a woman and might be gay, be careful what you say in the heat of the moment, adult relationships are conditional, you can’t make people be kind, sometimes the right person isn’t right for you
…and the numbers…together, the OURS team…
- Has been with our partners for a combined 107 years
- Has had 34 serious relationships
- Has experienced 36 breakups
- Has 6 children
- 11 dogs
- 5 cats
- 2 other pets
The End
But not really, since we’re just getting started! But, you did make it to the bottom of our About page and that’s a big accomplishment!
We’re grateful that you’re here, that you’re a part of OURS and that together, we get to change relationships and the world with you.